Clinton, Sanders praise Obama's Supreme Court pick

Hillary Clinton responded to President Barack Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court on Wednesday with effusive praise.

"He has chosen a nominee with considerable experience on the bench and in public service, a brilliant legal mind, and a long history of bipartisan support and admiration. Now, it's up to members of the Senate to meet their own, and perform the Constitutional duty they swore to undertake," Clinton said in a statement released through the campaign.

Clinton fired back at Republicans who have stated that they would not consider a presidential nomination until next year, remarking that the evaluation and confirmation process "should not be an exercise in political brinkmanship and partisan posturing."

"It is a serious obligation, performed on behalf of the American people, to ensure a highly qualified candidate fills a vacancy on the Court," Clinton said. "That obligation does not depend on the party affiliation of a sitting president, nor does the Constitution make an exception to that duty in an election year."

Clinton went on to note that the Senate has never taken more than 125 days to vote on a Supreme Court nominee, with a confirmation or rejection coming in two months. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), for example, has said he would consider Garland only if the nomination came from the next president.

"This Senate has almost a full year to consider and confirm Judge Garland," she said, referring to the period between now and next January, when the next president would take office. "It should begin that work immediately by giving Judge Garland a full and fair hearing followed by a vote. That is what the American people deserve, it is what our Constitution demands, and with millions of people's lives in the balance, anything less is entirely unacceptable."

In his own statement, Clinton's rival Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders remarked that it would be "unprecedented" for Republicans to deny Garland a hearing.

"Judge Garland is a strong nominee with decades of experience on the bench. My Republican colleagues have called Judge Garland a ‘consensus nominee’ and said that there is ‘no question’ he could be confirmed," Sanders said in a statement, calling on Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to hold confirmation hearings "immediately" and for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to bring the nomination the floor if the committee approves.